Do you ever feel that the more you know, the more you don’t know? Whenever I study scripture or a topic I want to learn more about, it seems that the Holy Spirit directs me in a specific way, or I “accidentally” stumble upon something that sparks an idea. This happened to me, and my planned topic was postponed until I could write this one. I pray it is a blessing to you.

I was praying and thinking about faith and its importance; I started thinking about the fruits of faith–what are they, and how can we see them in our lives? Jesus said, and I’m paraphrasing, they will know we are Christians by our love. Look up John 13:35. But what are the fruits of faith? Where are those blessings?

If we are faithful, a decision we make, we receive blessings. (Check out my podcast on Blessings here.) But not necessarily how you might think this happens. For example, if you follow God, everything will go great; you will never have hardships or difficulties, right? In some ways, yes, because we can cope with these things, and we realize in the grand scheme of life, they are minor, even if, at that moment, the hardships seem insurmountable. I remember a close friend once shared that she never was concerned with having no money because she had her faith, happiness, and health until her health and that of her husband were under attack. Yet, without faith, how would you live?

Faith is not a feeling. Faith is a belief in the unseen. Faith is truly a gift from God. Can we ask for more faith? Yes, of course. What is faith? It is a belief that there is more in life than what we can see, the material things around us. If we can use our senses to experience the material, that is not faith.

Oh, to live when Jesus roamed the earth in the flesh. Not that I would enjoy all that dust and dirt or even the primitive ways of life. There is something attractive to the simplicity of living, even under those hardships. Can you imagine being one of the disciples? Listening in as Jesus spoke to Joseph and Mary? Can you imagine the Holy Family living life together and learning from Christ? In the movie The Nativity, one of my favorites, there is a line where Joseph talks about the coming Messiah with Mary and says, “Will I even be able to teach him anything?”

Yet, only Jesus, Mary, and Joseph knew before his public ministry that Jesus was God. Joseph and Mary had faith beforehand, but they were chosen and said yes to participate in the greatest mystery of all time. Can you imagine being chosen? Well, we are, and we participate not in the same way as the Holy Family but in a special way by our faith in Jesus.

The Word became flesh.

Thus, Christianity was born, and our faith in Christ grew along with that of many other believers. As Christians, we realize this greatest miracle, and we, through no effort of our own, expect our “yes” we can participate in the miracles and gifts and blessings. After all, God gave us free will, and He will not force us to believe, but the signs are all around us if we have eyes that see!

An unbeliever thinks that hard work and effort cause the good in their life. I remember hearing an acquaintance say, “I make my own luck.” Luck is often attributed to chance or good fortune. But how can you make or create “chance” or “fate”? In this case, I believe it is impossible.

It is more challenging to be without faith than to have faith. I can rest assured that even though many of us fight against sin, we are often victorious because we have the grace of God. Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christians, which is a contrast or the opposite of the sin in our lives. These can be considered the fruits of faith. What are they? 

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• Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control
  

We can all pray for these gifts, and if we receive them, how will we use them for the kingdom?

Read Galatians 5:15-23 – here you are warned against the things that will close the doors to heaven. A section of verse 20 reads: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” But verses 22-23 are more joyful! (Read on air.)

When we have the Holy Spirit and these fruits available to us through faith, we can definitely find joy. One year, I wrote those spiritual words on cards and passed them out randomly to my family. Whatever word we selected was the word for the year. It was amazing that many of us selected the word we needed the most; only God could know this, right? All of us were amazed by God’s hand in this simple family activity. But why are we surprised? When we participate with the Lord and share the good news, He is in our midst. He is always there, but we often do not recognize the gift.

I know I use the word gift in a seemingly cavalier manner, but it is truly a gift.

Remember, virtues are a gift, as are the fruits. God gives them through His grace. But our Lord and Savior provide us with these things, and we must do our part to strive toward the goal of attaining these in our lives and also in our prayers. Ask the Lord, “How can I share this with others? How do we participate in the spiritual life?

First of all, it is a journey. It is a walk, and for some of us, we arrive quickly; for others, like myself, it is a long and winding path. The quickest way to get to the goal is to set aside the old ways of life. How do we shed this old life? One way that helps me understand this is to compare it to a diet.

It means a lifestyle change if you’ve ever been on a diet to lose a few pounds. We eliminate the chips, soda, and other packaged foods that harm our health. We buy fresh produce, and we eat healthily. We exercise, drink lots of water, and get rid of sugary drinks. And we work super hard to try to lose that weight. But what happens after we reach our goal? Hopefully, we will lose the weight we want to shed. But what happens when we go back to our old ways? We gain weight back, sometimes more than we started with initially.

A lifestyle change is only possible by the grace of God, with His blessings, and through prayer. In fact, you can accomplish this both by praying and fasting. Some things take our focus off of self and onto God. But often, we are too hard on how we look or what we do; we think we fail God and the others we love the most.

I recently read the staggering statistics for suicide. This is tragic, and the enemy’s goal is to make us think that life is not worth living. This is a lie; remember, the evil one is the father of lies. God’s grace and goodness are there for each of us to lean into and rely on if only, as the scriptures say, we have “eyes that see.”

Open your eyes wide to the wonders and goodness of the Lord through faith. The fruits of faith are joy, goodness, and so much more. God loves you; He cares about you, and He created you for a purpose.

The fruits of faith are a happier life, the ability to cope with the unexpected, and seeing God in those little things that happen in our lives. One friend who recovered from cancer would tell me how she took such delight in the sunset and the sunrises. She shared that she would tease the Almighty God that He was showing off just for her.

This is true faith when you can see God in the everyday wonders we take for granted and appreciate it as a personal gift. Dear friends, you are a gift; your life is not an accident, and you are here for a reason. Do not ever lose hope, but remember the awesomeness and ability that God has given us because we live. Once again, share the good news with others.

Enjoy your faith, count your blessings, and look toward the grace that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

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